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Space 1889: Red Sands

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Page 1: Space 1889: Red Sands

Authors and Editors: William Reger, Clint Black, Matthew Cutter, Joel Kinstle, Piotr Koryś, Tony Lee

Space 1889 Created by: Frank Chadwick

Cover art by: Richard ClarkCover design by: Simon Lucas

Interior art by: Richard Clark, Christophe SwalCartography by: Jordan Peacock

Typesetting by: Simon Lucas

William’s Dedication: To Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs who inspired the work, Frank Chadwick who gave it form, and all the intrepid Explorers who give it life.

William’s Thanks: Those who believed in me; Shane and Greg; my longtime friends who inspired me; Andre, Ted, Peter, Holly, Avis, and Julie; and my Martian princess Linda.

Pinnacle Thanks: Frank Chadwick, Matthew Goodman

Savage Worlds Created by Shane Lacy Hensley

©2010 Frank Chadwick. Space: 1889 is Frank Chadwick’s registered trademark for his role-playing game of Victorian space-faring. All rights reserved. Used under license by Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.

©2010 Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Space 1889: Red Sands, Savage Worlds, and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved.

Produced under license by Studio 2 Publishing, Inc. The Studio 2 logo is a trademark of Studio 2 Publishing, Inc. ©2010. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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Page 2: Space 1889: Red Sands

RED Sands �������������������������� 1

Making Heroes ����������������5The Explorer’s Society������������������� 5Character Concepts ������������������������ 6New Hindrances ��������������������������� 11New Edges ����������������������������������� 12

Possessions ��������������������� 17Currency ��������������������������������������� 17Weapons ��������������������������������������� 18Special Weapons �������������������������� 19Armor ������������������������������������������� 19Ammunition ��������������������������������� 19Mundane Possessions������������������� 20Equipment ������������������������������������ 23Vehicles ���������������������������������������� 27

Setting Rules ����������������� 31Status �������������������������������������������� 31Favors ������������������������������������������� 32Inventions ������������������������������������� 33Improvised Weapons �������������������� 42Transportation ����������������������������� 42Aerial Ship Rules ������������������������� 44

Gazetteer �����������������������53Asteroid Belt ������������������������������� 53Earth ��������������������������������������������� 53Jupiter and Beyond ���������������������� 53Luna ��������������������������������������������� 53Mars ��������������������������������������������� 53Mercury ���������������������������������������� 55Venus �������������������������������������������� 55

The Captain’s Secrets ��58A Masked Conspiracy ������������������ 58More Setting Rules ���������������������� 60

The Many Worlds ���������65Savage Tales ��������������������������������� 65Asteroid Belt �������������������������������� 65

Earth ��������������������������������������������� 66Africa ������������������������������������������� 67Antarctica ������������������������������������� 68Asia ���������������������������������������������� 69India ��������������������������������������������� 69Australia ��������������������������������������� 69Europe ������������������������������������������ 69The Americas ������������������������������� 71Underworld ���������������������������������� 71Luna ��������������������������������������������� 71Mars ��������������������������������������������� 71

Adventures �������������������� 77Investigation ��������������������������������� 77Exploration ����������������������������������� 80Procurement ��������������������������������� 81Social �������������������������������������������� 82Victorian Pulp ������������������������������ 84

Red Sands ������������������������87Fort Oublié ����������������������������������� 88The Princess of Thoth ������������������ 91The Doomed Caravan ������������������ 92The Lost Temple �������������������������� 95Madness in Bordobaar ����������������� 99Edge of Reason �������������������������� 102Kraag of Killers �������������������������� 105Airship of Doom ������������������������ 108Venusian Ventures ���������������������� 111Earth Escapade ��������������������������� 113War Clouds ��������������������������������� 115Death Ball ���������������������������������� 119Red Sands����������������������������������� 120To Be Continued��� ��������������������� 122

Savage Tales ������������������ 123Alexander’s Mark ���������������������� 123Amraamtaba’s Sacrifice ������������� 124Avenel Espionage ����������������������� 125Base of the Sun �������������������������� 126Bhutan Cutting ��������������������������� 128

Deep Dive ���������������������������������� 129Desert Demon ���������������������������� 130Diggers’ Doom ��������������������������� 131Discord in Dioscuria ������������������ 133Escape from the Kraag ��������������� 134Fire with Fire ������������������������������ 135Fruits of Freedom ����������������������� 135Golden Dome ����������������������������� 137Gordvaan Greatness ������������������� 138Gumme Revolution �������������������� 139The Haatt Gambit ����������������������� 140Hyde Park Horror ����������������������� 140Ice Caves ������������������������������������ 141Incan Incursion ��������������������������� 143Italian Mark �������������������������������� 144Lady in the Lake ������������������������ 145Lunar Library ����������������������������� 147Message from Melas ������������������ 148Mines of Madness ���������������������� 150Monkey Business ����������������������� 151Moeris Lacus Lunacy ����������������� 152The Parhoon Worm �������������������� 153Paris Problems ��������������������������� 154the Forgotten ������������������������������ 155Secrets of the Palace ������������������ 156Shipyard Sabotage ��������������������� 157Shistomik Solution ��������������������� 159Secret Of Angkor ����������������������� 159Tossian Trouble �������������������������� 161Tomb of the 7th Dynasty ������������� 162Turkish Delight �������������������������� 163Vulcan Ruins ������������������������������ 164

Allies & Enemies ����������� 167Bestiary �������������������������������������� 167Humans & Humanoids ��������������� 175The Brotherhood ������������������������ 184

Index ������������������������������ 189

ConTEnTS

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RED SAnDS

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Hear me, my people! Gather round and listen! From beyond the skies the invaders came, a world full of rapacious beings who called themselves “Earthmen,” but we call red devils.

The red devils have returned, spreading like a dirty plague among the planets, carrying their prejudice and belligerence with them.

Too late our leaders discovered the Earthmen would not be satisfied with simple trade but desired conquest, tyranny, and enslavement in the guise of “civilizing the heathen.”

Too late they realized the violent power the Earthmen had—advanced rifles, cannons capable of ranges far beyond our own, and rapid-firing guns that could tear apart our massed legions from long distance.

They stole our flying technology and placed it in ships clad in metal, powered by foul-smelling fuels from resources squandered as cavalierly as our long-lost ancestors. Now, they maneuver around us, ignoring us like we ignore the durge fly, confident in their might and fearing only each other.

But in the hills and back streets one can feel the resentment building. The Ground Cleansers’ ranks are swelling and the Cult of the Worm is laboring toward the surface. I hear a mes-siah is arising who will rally our people and splash our sands with the Earthmen’s blood!

Listen, my people, and harken to my words—look for the Red Sands!

—Overheard ranting of the street prophet Yurias, by Sergeant Major Ian McSweeny, 1st Syrtis Major Native Infantry Battalion A, Syrtis Major Colonial Brigade

SPACE 1889: RED SAnDS

India may be the jewel of Queen Victoria’s English Empire on Earth, but other precious stones shine brighter. The finest of these is Mars. First visited by Thomas Edison and Jack Armstrong in 1870, Mars inflamed the imagina-tions of Earthmen and lit the torch of exploration to the other planets.

Two decades have only touched the shell of the various worlds. Dry Mars, while smaller than Earth, has almost equal surface land to probe. Moreover, Mars has wonders galore! Its canals make the Suez Canal of Earth seem a city sewer drain. The pumps, locks, and water movers are so far advanced that after almost twenty years the finest engineers of Earth have yet to decipher their mechanisms.

But they will. After all, Earthmen have invented machines that record and play voices, light without a flame, engines that consume liquid fuel rather than wood or coal, even

RED SAnDS

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vehicles that transport people and goods between planets. This is the last decade before a new century and everyone wants a place in history.

Widespread commercial electricity is just being adopted on Earth. Almost without exception, industry is powered by coal-fired steam boilers. Transportation of the era is notable for its general lack of single-person conveyances, in favor of trains and horse-drawn carriages. Sailing and steam vessels ply the worlds’ oceans. Aerial flyers coast upon the skies of Mars. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone is in use in urban centers, and British orbital heliograph stations transmit flashes of light—much like Morse Code—almost instantaneously between Earth and Mars.

By 1889, the waning 19th century is popularly acknowl-edged as an age of wonder. Earth’s nations have expanded among the planets, planting colonies, guiding people they see as savage heathens on the path toward what they consider to be true civilization, and introducing European justice and security to all lands.

FIn DE SIèClEYet not all is well in the twilight of the Nineteenth

century. The European powers teeter on diplomatic brink-manship, edging ever closer to war. The scientific exploits of vanguard inventors lead to advents in destructive technol-ogy whose impact can scarcely be grasped by the Victorian mind.

Natives of all the planets show signs of revolt, listen-ing to the whispers of entities that do not always appear as they truly are. Anarchists and revolutionaries work to bring about the eradication of official establishments, while doomsayers warn of the end of days.

Worst of all, speculations abound regarding a new, rising power, a far-flung and secretive cult of deadly assassins some have dubbed the Brotherhood of Luxor. Headed by an inner circle of secretive masterminds named after the Titans of Greek myth, only the Brotherhood knows what it wishes to achieve with its acts of atrocity.

SPACE TRAvElSince the existence of ether was proven as scientific fact,

numerous inventions have been built to function from its use, none more prominent than Thomas Edison’s ether propeller, first demonstrated in 1870. This is the crucial device that allows vessels to soar between the worlds, carry-ing passengers from Earth to Mars, Venus, and even more exotic destinations. While interplanetary travel is hardly commonplace, it is an accepted facet of life in 1889.

Space voyages tend to be lengthy, sometimes lasting a month or longer. Ether flyers—as they are typically known—make use of solar boilers. A reflecting lens focuses the sun’s rays onto a boiler, thus producing steam to power the ether propeller and the rest of the ship’s systems, with-out the need for combustion or smoke (both of which tend to be lethal to spacefarers).

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lIFTWooDLiftwood trees grow in a certain region of the Martian

highlands, and nowhere else. Attempts to grow the trees in greenhouses have all failed to date, as have laboratory attempts to synthesize the specific protein that concentrates in its sap. This complex organic compound has been found to produce so-called “contragravitational effects”—in lay-man’s terms, anti-gravity. In practice, ships constructed from liftwood soar through the skies as lightly as balloons or zeppelins.

This has led to a renaissance of flight, brought on by Edison’s discovery of liftwood in 1870 (yet another devel-opment of his and Jack Armstrong’s fateful expedition). Since then, aeronautical research has resulted in countless advances. Zeppelin-Daimler airships, held aloft by hydrogen and utilizing highly safe and efficient internal combustion engines, are in widespread use in Europe, on Earth. On Mars, the kites of the Martians ply the orange skies much as sailing ships did on Earth’s sea of old. With liftwood so scarce, piracy is common among the Martian flyers, and conflicts over liftwood supplies are constant.

ClASH oF nATIonSIn 1889 Britain is a constitutional monarchy, with

Queen Victoria presiding alongside Parliament. As far as republics go, America’s is relatively stable, while France’s is

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not. Germany and Russia remain hereditary monarchies, with traditions deeply rooted in bloodlines that stretch back for centuries. Japan is a society in transition, whose feudal beliefs are blending quickly into those more proper for an age of machines.

What all these nations have in common is their aspira-tion to be a “great power.” In 1889 a nation is not called a great power unless it can command interplanetary colonies, robust trade among nations and worlds, and liftwood.

More than any other aggressor state in the 1880s, Belgium’s actions have consistently thrown international relations into chaos and disarray. Driven by their King Leopold’s overriding obsession with establishing a new empire safe from French and German meddling, the Bel-gians have pursued aggressive imperialistic agendas in the Congo and on Mars. Resentment of the Belgians on Mars has led to the generally poor reception of anyone whose complexion is ruddy enough to earn him the epithet, “red devil.”

A SoCIETy oF ExPloRERSOperating under the aegis of the British Association for

the Advancement of Science (BA), the Explorer’s Society has been gaining traction in recent years as the primary source of information on the various exotic locales of our Solar System.

With a recent influx of new adventurers, scientists, and aeronauts, the Society is poised to cultivate nothing less than a latter-day scientific and cultural renaissance. Still, much of the Explorer’s Society remains wedded to the con-cept of the Society as a brotherhood and Old Boys’ Club first and foremost, and a scientific clearinghouse second. Clashes between aristocrat Explorers and those of lower status—increasingly admitted to the Society on the basis of their talents rather than their blood—occur with greater and greater frequency. Some see this as necessary progress, other view it as an aberration from the established social order and buck the trend any chance they get.

Called “Section X” by those who are in the know, the Explorer’s Society keeps a low profile despite its recent recruitment campaign. This is necessary to protect the Soci-ety’s members from scrutiny. For the most part, the concern is mere privacy. With the rise of revolutionary cults and subversive organizations on Mars, a modicum of secrecy is crucial to protect the very lives of the Society’s operatives. Several Explorers have been lost in the Asteroid Belt, the steppes and highlands of Mars, and even in remote loca-tions on Earth, such as the Libyan Desert.

After years of inaction, the Explorer’s Society has revised its policies extensively. It is no longer just a soci-ety of researchers; instead its members are resolved to stand against the forces of ignorance, superstition, and violence. Faced with such would-be despots, they hold aloft the torch—the light of Knowledge—yet stand ready with the sword.

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